


a thousand words

by marina_rocher



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 17:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13815864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marina_rocher/pseuds/marina_rocher
Summary: Looking at Dan through the lens of Phil's camera is its own form of art.





	a thousand words

"Stand still!"

Dan shudders and turns to him, a beer can in his hand firmly gripped. The definition of alertness. That's almost the opposite of what Phil was originally going for, but he takes the picture anyway.

"I thought there was a spider on my head or something!"

Phil laughs fondly, reaches out and brushes an invisible spec off Dan's shoulder.

"No, I just wanted a photo."

Dan leans into him.

"Show me."

"Nah, you ruined everything."

It's hard to catch Dan in the moment. Whenever Phil draws his camera out, suddenly mesmerized by the relaxed and absent-minded look on Dan's face, Dan somehow knows what's happening and turns to him. And the moment is gone.

Phil did manage to take a couple of shots of Dan sleeping, hair gracefully falling onto his cheeks, a hand in front of his face, grasping a blanket or the fabric of Phil's shirt. They are painfully beautifully but still unable to reflect what Dan actually looks like in those moments. The rise and fall of his chest, the whistling sound of his breath leaving the nostrils, the soft moans when he turns to the other side.

Dan is wonderful when he's posing too. In those pictures, he takes of himself on a webcam or a camera of his phone. Phil knows way too well how many takes go rejected so that the most perfect, the sexiest, the most nicely colored one is posted. They are nice. Very nice. Keeping Phil awake and with a hand down his pants nice. He knows that’s probably going too far but he’s not ashamed. Because this boy allowed Phil to touch him and see him, so what if he uses some help to stir up those memories?

Yes, these pictures make him go crazy.

But there are pictures of him that don't exist yet, that cannot be found on his Facebook or DailyBooth. And he craves them so deeply.

The curve of Dan’s nose when he looks up at the sky, pointing to the weirdly shaped cloud or the bird flying low. Those strands of wet hair at the base of his neck from walking for way too long under the hot sun. A wistful look across the river and his skin painted rose under the evening sky.

And now, at the party, with them and a few other people drinking on the balcony and talking loudly, letting air cool their sweaty bodies.

"Stand still!" he says, but Dan does the exact opposite, so unsure, so aware of everything around him. It won't work like that. Phil should be more sneaky.

***

He gets better at it. Dan is cooking, head bowed over the chopping board, a knife in his hand and a funny story on his lips. He’s standing back to Phil, and Phil takes this opportunity to capture his shoulder blades sticking out under the shirt. Dan doesn't notice, too caught up in his story, dropping the chopped carrots into the pan and looking for a spatula.

Next, it happens when Dan walks out of the shower with a towel over his head and the pair of boxers clinging to his wet skin. Phil reaches for his phone and takes a pic the moment Dan take off the towel and peeks at him under the curly bangs.

"What are you gonna do with it?"

"Keep as my greatest treasure."

Dan pouts and drops to the bed next to Phil.

"Why? You have me right here."

***

"You're looking so handsome today."

Dan smirks, straightens his back and puts hands in his pockets. He knows he is. Something vibrates in Phil's chest from the sight of Dan checking himself in the mirror.

"You look like James Bond if he was emo."

Dan laughs. "Imagine that."

Phil puts his hands on Dan's shoulders, feels the smooth fabric under his palms, the firmness of Dan's sharp bones.

"Pose for me."

Dan doesn't even resist. This is new and Phil hurries to get his camera, hoping that Dan won’t lose this flare of confidence he's suddenly giving off. Dan stands by the mirror, effortlessly looking to the side, one hand in the pocket, another - loose by his thigh. Phil crouches to take a photo from below, make Dan even taller, accentuate his long legs and the lovely tip of his nose. He takes five pics before Dan looks back at him and sighs.

"Okay, don't be crazy about it."

Phil shrugs and puts the camera away.

"I'm just crazy about you".

Dan groans and goes into the kiss.

***

Dan is usually the one who makes them stop in the middle of the road to capture an interesting shadow or a funny and probably inappropriate graffiti he just saw. He takes a bunch of photos, looks through them all, and only then they can keep going, to pause again a little bit further down the street.

Things like this are actually motivating him to go out. He gets excited about finding interesting locations, reading the signs and peeking into shops through the windows.

"Assaggetti, Phil," he says, failing to hide a grin. "I'm tweeting this."

Phil, in turn, doesn't care about keeping all these casual incidents. If something funny happens, he takes a photo, shares it, and deletes it right away. Even the pretty cocktails in the bars and cute dogs he meets on the street. It's not like they will be erased from his memory as soon as he moves them to the trash.

But he has his own obsession.

"Go stand there with your back to me."

"I'm only gonna ruin this sunset, Phil."

"Shut up."

In the aquarium, Dan tries to give him directions.

"Lower the exposition, so it's higher contrast..."

"I know what I'm doing. You model now."

They choose filters meticulously, sipping on their frappes in a local Starbucks to escape the heat.

"Now let's compare this to the original. No, this is too dark. Maybe crop it a bit to get rid of that baby in the corner?"

"I'll just paint black over it."

"Smart."

***

These days one look from Dan is enough to let Phil know he wants a photo. These ones take longer to do. Multiple shots, his head turned left, right, gaze down, up, to the side. Hands on the hem of a shirt, tucked in the pockets of his tight jeans, holding a drink, warming up in a fuzzy hat, funny, and sarcastic, and confused, and even happy sometimes. They don't share all of them because it feels a bit too much to Dan. He's secretly scared to be perceived as an attention seeker. If he doesn't post a picture right away, he probably never will, having too much time to change his mind and find at least a dozen flaws no one else will ever notice. That's okay though.

"Huh, I missed earrings."

They're walking to one of these never-ending meetings with the tour crew and Dan is sporting his new fancy sequin jacket under the winter coat.

"Picking up new ones to each outfit. Or not bothering and wearing the same ones for weeks. That was fun."

Phil touches Dan’s arm when they enter the building.

"These hoop ones suit you a lot."

Dan likes the lighting in the elevator, takes off his coat and shoves it into Phil's arms. He doesn't even have to say anything. On their way to the tenth floor, they take about fifteen pics and Dan spends the remaining walk to the office picking the best ones.

"Most of these look decent", he says and laughs when Phil gives him a look. "You did great. But we'll do another round on our way down".

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @muchdan on tumblr, come say hi!


End file.
